The Ultimate Fighter 28, Episode 8 results: Larissa Pacheco vs. Macy Chiasson

Heading into The Ultimate Fighter 28 semifinals, coaches Kelvin Gastelum and Robert Whittakerare all tied up.

Team Gastelum’s Macy Chiasson made sure to even the score at four TUF 28 victories apiece with a lopsided win over Larissa Pacheco on this week’s episode. The 5-foot-11 Chiasson won the ground battle and eventually got into position to pound out Pacheco to earn a first-round TKO victory and a spot in the featherweight final four.

She came out gunning from the start and Pacheco had to tie Chiasson up to slow the assault. The experienced Brazilian wasn’t afraid to stand with Chiasson and the two traded a few punches in the stand-up when separated until Pacheco scored a takedown with a smooth trip. Chiasson was able to kick Pacheco off and then score a takedown of her own.

Pacheco gave up her back, which allowed Chiasson to flatten her out and then start firing away with punches. It didn’t look like Chiasson was landing anything too severe, but Pacheco did nothing to improve her position and the referee eventually saw one too many unprotected shots for his liking.

This is the second big win of the year for Chiasson (2-0), a New Orleans representative who made a successful Invicta FC debut this past May (it should be noted that TUF bouts are considered to be exhibitions and not counted on a fighter’s pro record). On the other side, Pacheco (11-2) once again falls short in the Octagon after going 0-2 in her first stint as a UFC fighter four years ago, when she lost bantamweight bouts to Germaine de Randamie and Jessica Andrade.

After the opening round of the TUF 28 tournament, both Gastelum and Whittaker have four representatives each in the heavyweight and featherweight divisions. The two talked over potential semifinal matchups with UFC president Dana White, with Whittaker championing Juan Espino and Julija Stoliarenko as the best in their respective weight classes, and Gastelum countering with Maurice Greene and Macy Chiasson.

White had the final say and the tournament semifinals are as follows:

Heavyweight

Michel Batista vs. Justin Frazier

Juan Espino vs. Maurice Greene

Featherweight

Julija Stoliarenko vs. Pannie Kianzad

Macy Chiasson vs. Leah Letson

In other storylines, Maurice’s late night drinking starts to grate on his housemates, and Anderson da Silva gets into an argument with Justin Frazier and Greene over their past fights.

Here are the complete first-round results:

Maurice Greene def. Przemyslaw Mysiala via KO (uppercut) in round one

Pannie Kianzad def. Katharina Lehner via unanimous decision

Justin Frazier def. Anderson da Silva via unanimous decision

Julija Stoliarenko def. Marciea Allen via submission (armbar) in round one

Michel Batista def. Josh Parisian via TKO (ground and pound) in round two

Leah Letson def. Bea Malecki via unanimous decision

Juan Espino def. Ben Sosoli via unanimous decision

Macy Chiasson def. Larissa Pacheco via first-round TKO (ground and pound)

On next week’s episode, Team Whittaker’s Michel Batista fights Team Gastelum’s Justin Frazier in a heavyweight semifinal bout.

Season 28 of The Ultimate Fighter is being coached by UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and top contender Kelvin Gastelum. Gastelum will challenge Whittaker for the middleweight title at a future date to be determined.

The finalists of the TUF 28 heavyweight and featherweight tournaments will compete for a six-figure UFC contract at The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale on Nov. 30 in Las Vegas.

Here is the TUF 28 roster divided by team:

Team Gastelum

Heavyweights
Justin Frazier
Maurice Greene
Josh Parisian
Ben Sosoli

Featherweights
Marciea Allen
Macy Chiasson
Pannie Kianzad
Bea Malecki

Team Whittaker

Heavyweights
Michel Batista
Juan Espino
Przemyslaw Mysiala
Anderson da Silva

Featherweights
Katharina Lehner
Leah Letson
Larissa Pacheco
Julija Stoliarenko

Advancing to Round 2: Greene, Kianzad, Frazier, Stoliarenko, Batista, Letson, Espino, Chiasson

Eliminated: Mysiala, Lehner, Da Silva, Allen, Parisian, Malecki, Sosoli, Pacheco